Devils 5, Canucks 2: Make it four

Despite a slow start, the Devils extended their winning streak with another multi-goal victory.

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with our writers and subscribers.

---

A few observations from New Jersey vs Vancouver:

Blackwood was excellent

I didn’t necessarily agree with the decision to start Mackenzie Blackwood – Vitek Vanecek was rolling and it was not a back-to-back situation – but I could understand it.

The Devils need both guys this season and Blackwood hadn’t gotten the net in a while. If there was a time to get No. 29 back in the crease, and give him a chance to get back on track, it was against the softer of the Western Canadian opponents.

As fate would have it, Blackwood’s workload was the most difficult a Devils goaltender has seen all season; especially in the early going.

The Devils were very slow out of the gate. I don’t know if they were legitimately half asleep, or simply due for an off night (they can’t play near perfect every game), but the Devils were certainly off in the opening 10-15 minutes.

They were struggling to string together multiple passes in a row. Getting to center ice with possession was a struggle, let alone actually making anything happen in the offensive zone.

As a result, the Devils spent much more time on their heels than we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. Luckily, it did not matter.

Blackwood was dialled in and made a few very strong stops to keep the Devils ahead when they by no means deserved to be.

While the Devils led by multiple goals for much of the night, that really shouldn’t have been the case. Vancouver generated more than 2 expected goals in the opening 40 minutes and really tested Blackwood. He made several 10-bell saves, though, and ensured the Devils always had a nice cushion to play with.

I thought Bo Horvat’s 2nd goal was weak but, even so, Blackwood allowed two goals on nearly three expected. He made a handful of saves anyone would have let him off the hook with had they gotten past him and did exactly what he needed to do.

More so than any contest this year, the Devils made real mistakes and needed a legitimately good – not OK – performance from their goaltender. Blackwood delivered one.

Depth guys came through